Railway car



Dec. 22', 1925'. 1,566,432

H. W. SANFORD RAILWAY CAR I Filed June 7. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 22,1925- H. W. SANFORD RAILWAY CAR Filed June '7. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Dec. 22 1925.

w. SANFORD RAILWAY CAR Filed Jun '7. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 III/470712!!!awuc nloz Dec. 22, 1925. V H. w. SANFORD RAILWAY CAR Filed June 7. 19245 Sheets-Sheet 5 uventoz Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES HUGH W. SANFORD, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

RAILWAY can.

Application filed June 7, 1924. Serial No. 718,534.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH W. SANFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway Cars, of which thefollowing is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanyingdrawing.

My invention relates particularlyto mine cars and other cars of any typewherein the frame of the car has side sills and'end sills connecting theside sills.

The chief object of the invention is to produce strong and durable endsills in which there is a limited amount of metal and with which thereare associated elements forming an automatic coupling. Heretoforesimilar end sills have been made of cast metal. Efiort to provide thenec essary strength has led to putting into these structures anobjectionably large amount of metal and making the sills too expensive,and yet those sills have been unreliable on account of blow holes andother imperfections and shrinkage strains in the castings.

The present invention involves the use of rolled steel plates,preferably in a single piece, of great toughness and strength relativeto weight, to form the principal members of the end sills. WVith thesemembers formed of rolled plates there are associated coupling castingsor forgings and a coupling hook and wooden filling pieces or blocks.Thus the end sills are made composite.

For a somewhat similar end sill, reference is here made to my LettersPatent of the United States, No. 1,486,547, granted March 11, 1924. Inthat patent provision is made for the above-mentioned plate metal endsill member, but provision is made for coupling by means of couplinglinks in lieu of the automatic coupling herein described.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan showing ends of cars provided with my improved endsills, the cars being in alignment with each other;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown by Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line, 33, of Fig. 1, looking in the directionof the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a plan similar to Fig. 1, the cars being out of alignment;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line, 55, of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the bumper castmg Fig. 7 is a plan showing aplate steel blank from which is made the main part of the end sill inthe right hand part of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8' is a perspective of said part of the end sill detached fromother parts;

Fig. 9 is a perspective of one of the corner members used for joiningthe side sills tothe end sill;

Fig. 10 is an upright section on the line, 1010, of Fig. 1, lookingtoward the right;

Fig. 11 is an upright section on the line, 11l1, of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrow;

Fig. 12 is an upright section on the line, 12'12, of Fig. 1, lookingtoward the right;

Fig. 13 is a perspective of the bumper casting which is applied to theplate steel member in the left hand part of Fig. 1;

Fig. 14 is an upright section on the line 1414, of Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrow;

Fig. 15 is an upright section on the line, 151'5, of Fig. 1, lookingtoward'the left;

Fig. 16 is a plan showing a plate steel blank from which is made themain part of the end sill shown in the right hand part of Fig. 1;

Fig. 17 is a perspective of said main part detached from other parts;

' Fig. 18 is an upright section on the line 1818, of Fig. 1, lookingtoward the left;

Fig. 19 is an upright transverse section on the line, 19-19, of Fig. 1,looking toward the left.

Referring first to the right hand part of Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, A, Aare the side sills. In. the form shown in the drawings, these sills areof channel-form with outward-directed flanges, A

B is the steel plate member of the end sillat that end of the car. Thisis of channel-form and has the upright web, B (presenting a flat backface) and an upper horizontal flange, B and a lower horizontal flange, BThe upper flange, B is narrow and straight. The lower flange, B is widerand its outer corners are cut to make slanting edges, B (Figs. 1, 2, 3,6 and 7.)

This member, B, is formed by folding the blank of Fig. 7, along thedotted lines, B. The blank of Fig. 7, is cut from a plate of rolledsteel of desired thickness. This member associated with the end sill.the'right hand part of Fig. 1;

member, B, is also provided with holes as will be described further on.

In the form shown by the drawings, the plate member is long enough topartially over-lap the adjacent ends of the side sills. Said member andthe side sills are joined to each other by means of corner anglemembers, C. One of these angle members is shown in perspective in Fig.9. One arm or blade of the angle member rests against the outer fiatface of the plate member, B, and is secured to the plate member by boltsor rivets, C extending through said blade and the plate member, B. Thedrawings show six such bolts or rivets. The other arm or blade of theangle member extends into the space between the flanges, A, of theadjacent side sill and bears against the upright web of the side sill.Bolts or rivets, C extend through said blade and said web to join saidparts to each other. In the form shown in the drawings, six such boltsor rivets, C are used. These corner angle members and the bolts orrivets used for securing said members to the plate member, B, and theside sills, A, are to be sufficiently strong to give rigidity to the carframe. The upright Web, B, of the plate member, B, is wider than theheight of the side sills, A, A, to make space for the bumper casting andthe wood filling and to permit placing the holes in the web, B atdifierent heights, in order that the end sill may be placed at differentheights relative to the height of the side sills, in order that theheight of this end sill may be made to conform to the height of the endsills on other cars already in use.

[in inner or second member, D, of strong wood, preferably oak is placedon the lower flange, B and against the upright web, B of the platemember, B. Said member, D, extends upward nearly to the middle of theheight of the member, B, and forward or outward (in the direction of thelength of the car) beyond the free edge of the flange, l. and sidewiseto the ends of the end sills, a, proximately even witn the side sills.On the upper face of the wood member, D, rests the horizontal part orweb, E, of the bumper casting. Said casting has the outer transversebumper wall, E extending clownward over nearly all of the outertransverse face of the wood member, D, and extending upward above theweb, E. The wall, E curved as shown in Fig. 1, from one end to the otheron an upright axis located in tie upright middle longitudinal plane ofthe car; and the outer face of said wall is also curved on a horizontalaxis which lies in or close to the web, E. At each end of said casting'awall or web, E rises from the web, E, and extends from the wall, Etoward and nearly to the upright web, B The web, E, of the bumpercasting is shown as not reaching entirely to the upright web, B and thespace between said casting and said web is filled with wood, D said woodmaking a cushion abutment to resist movement of the bumper castingtoward the web, B

The space between the web, E, and the upright web, B and the walls, E ofthe casting and the flange, B is filled with a wood filling member, DThe drawings show the outer face of said filling member slanting.

Three bolts, F, extend downward through the web, E, and the wood fillingmember, D, and the lower flange, B and bind said three members to eachother. The draw ings show the heads of said bolts countersunk in theupper face of the web, E.

Five bolts, F extend downward through the flange, B the wood fillingmember, D'-, the bumper casting web, E, and the lower flange, B and s weto bind said members to each other. Referring now to the left hand partof igs. 1, 2, 8, e and 5 and to Figs. ll to 5?, inclusive, (which relateto the structure n the left hand part of Figs. 1, 2, 8, a and G is thesteel plate memberof the end sill. This is similar to the correspondingmember, B, in the right hand part of said drawings. It is ofchannel-form and has an upright web, G (presenting a flat back face) andan upper horizontal flange, G and a lower horizontal flange, G Thecorners of said flanges are cut to make slanting edges, (Figs. 17 and18). This member, (:1, is formed by folding the blank of Fig. 1?, alongthe dotted lines, G The two flanges, G and G are of equal form anddimensions. Said blank is cut from a plate of rolled steel of desiredthickness. This member, G, is of proper length to overlap orapproximately over-lap the ends of the side sills, A, and is secured tothe end sills by means of corner angle members, C, already described.

lit the middle longitudinal, upright plane of the end sill, the upperflange, G is provided with a slot, G, to malre room for the movement ofthe coupling hook, as will be descr bed further on.

(in the lower flange, G, rests a wood filling block, H, which bearsagainst the entire length of the upright web, G and extends outw-rd (inthe dirction of the length of of the car) beyond the free edge of theflange, G; and said block extends upward far enough to form a suitablesupport for the bumper casting, I, (Fig. 13) which rests on the block,H, and has an outer bumper wall, 1 extending downward over and againstthe outer face of the wood member. H. Said Wall, 1 extends upward abovethe adjacent upper face of the wood member v H, toward the level of theflange, G At each side of the casting, I, the wood filling, H, extendsupward to the upper flange, G The bumper casting, I, has a rear uprighttransverse wall, I separated from the upright web, G by a cushioningwood filling member, H

The bumper casting has a top wall, I extending from the rear wall, Ioutward or forward to the wall, I excepting that said top wall isomitted along the space through which the coupling hook is to move. Ateach end, the bumper casting, I, has an upright wall, I extendingdownward from the top wall and from the wall, I forward or outward tothe wall, I Between and parallel to the walls, I, are two similar innerupright walls I which are separated from each other far enough to allowmovement of the body of the coupling hook between them.

At each side of the inner walls, I are two bosses, I rising from the topwall, I to and against the flange, G Bolts, I extend through the flange,G the bosses, I", the top wall, I and the wood filling, H, and thebottom flange, G Between the casting, I, and each end of the end sill, abolt, I extends through the flange, G the wood filling member, H, andthe flange, G

Adjacent the cross wall, I the lower edges of the walls, I are cut awayto form the upper part of a bearing for the journal, J of the couplinghook, J, the lower part of said bearing being formed by the adjacentupper face of the wood member, H. The

' hook, J, ext-ends from its journal rightward between the walls, 1*,and across the wall, I Said journal is only long enough to reach acrossthe walls, I

On each end of the journal is a wrist, J These wrists are located at theleft and a little above the axial line of the journal. On the inner faceof the outer cross wall, I and near each inner wall, D, isan ear, J intowhich there is secured one end of a contracting coiled spring, J theother end of said spring being coupled to the adjacent wrist, J On theouter end ofthe hook, E, is a head, J", on which is a point, J", whichis to engage the bumper casting, E, of another car.

WVhen the hook, J, is in the lower or working position, the contractingcoiled spring, J exerts force on the hook tending to hold the hookagainst turning upward in response to. the jolting of the car. When thehook is moved into the upright position, the rear or inner part of thespring is, by such movement, carried across the axial line of thejournal, J of the hook, whereby the action of the spring is changed soas to exert force on the hook tending to hold the hook in the uprightposition. This position is desirable when a train or trip of cars are tobe pushed without being coupled and to be successively moved outward onbranches the web, E.

of the track; and this position of the hook is especially desirable whena trip of cars is put through a rotary tipple, the cars beingsuccessively stopped in the tipple and turned sidewise for dischargingtheir load by gravity. An inspection 7 of the drawings will shon thatwhen the hook is in the upright position, it is out of the range of thebumper structure of the adjacent car, so that either car is free to berotated by the turning of a rotary tripple while their bumpers bearagainst each other.

The hook, J, is suited to efiect automatic coupling. For that operation,the hook is to be placed into the lower or horizontal position, the bodyof the hook resting on the upper edge of the wall, I of the bumpercasting, I. This brings the point of the hook below the upper edge ofthe wall, E of the adjacent bumper casting, and when the two cars arepushed together, the hook is forced upward by said flange until thepoint of the hook crosses and drops behind said flange. As aboveindicated, if automatic coupling is not desired, the hook is manuallyplaced into the upright position and held there by the action of thecontracting coiled spring, J

When these cars pass irregularities and curves in the track, while thetrain is under tension, the hook, J, may slide sidewise on If the carsare pushed toward each other, the point of the hook may slide on theweb, E, toward the wood filling member. D If the web, E, and the wall, Erise relative to the adjacent end sill of the other car, the outer endof the hookwill be lifted. If the movement of the end sill is reversed,the outer end of the hook will move downward as far as the wall, I, willpermit.

I claim as my invention,

1. In a railway-car, the combination with side sills, of a plate metalend sill member formed to present an upright back face and to presentupper and lower horzontal flanges free from each other and extendingfrom end to end of the sill and away from the car frame, a couplingcasting and wood filling located between said flanges, bolts extend ingthrough said flanges and casting and wood, and a hinged hook adapted toengage an adjacent end sill structure, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-car, the combination with side sills, of a plate metalend sill member formed to present an upright back face and to presentupper and lower horizontal flanges free from each other and extendingfrom end to end of the sill and away from the car frame, a couplingcasting having bosses rising to the upper flange and wood fillinglocated between said flanges, and bolts extending through said flangesand casting and wood filling, substantially as described.

3. A railway car coupling structure comrisin two late metal end sillmembers P e P formed to present an upright back face and to presentupper and lower horizontal flanges free from each other and extendingfrom end to end of the plate metal members and directed away fromthe'car frame, a coupling hook pivotally supported by one of said platemetal members, and a companion coupling member supported by the otherplate metal member and adapted to be engaged by said hook, substantiallyas described.

l. A railway car coupling structure comprising two plate metal end sillmembers formed to present an upright back face and to present upper andlower horizontal flanges free from each other and extending from end toend of the plate metal members and directed away from the car frame,hool-c pivotally supported by one of said plate u'ietal members, acompanion-coupling member supported by the other plate metal momher andadapted to be engaged by said hook, and wood filling in one of saidplate metal members, substantially as described.

5. A railway car end structure comprising two end sill structures eachcomprising a plate metal end sill member formed to pre sent an uprightback face and to present upper and lower horizontal flanges free fromeach other and extending from end to end of the plate metal member anddirected away from the car frame, a coupling casting combined with eachof said plate metal members, the first of said castings having anengaging face which is upright and extends transversely to the length ofthe car in a curved course in the below-mentioned plane, and a hookhaving a point and hinged to the second of said castings on a horizontaltransverse axis and adapted to turn on said axis to move said point inan are extending, when the first casting is not in range, from below thehorizontal plane of said hinge upward in an are above said plane andabove the height of said engaging face of he first coupling casting,whereby said point is adapted to engage said face in said plane andslide laterally along said face during changes in alignment of the carswhich support said coupling castings, substantially as described.

A railway car end structure comprising two end sill structures eachcomprising a plate metal end sill member formed to present an uprightback face and to present upper and lower horizontal flanges free fromeach other and extending from end to end of the plate metal member anddirected away from the car frame, a coupling casting combined with eachof said plate metal members, the first of said bumper castings having anengaging face which is upright and extends transversely to the length ofthe car in a curved course in the below-mentioned plane, a hook having apoint and hinged to the second of said castings on a horizontaltransverse and adapted to turn on said axis to move said point in an arcextending, when the first casting is not in range, from below the horizntal plane of said hinge i'ipward in an are above said plane and abovethe heightof said of the first coupling casting, point is adapted toengage sail plane and slide laterally along s ing changes in alignmentof ti w by said 7 in said no dun which I and wood filling between one ofsaid cast'ir's and the adjacent plate metal member, s .b ..antially asdescribed.

7. A railway car end structure comprising two end sill structures eachcomprising a plate metal end sill member formed to present an uprightback face and to present upper and lower horizontal flanges free fromeach other and extending from end to end of the plate metal member anddirected away from the car frame, a coupling casting combined with eachof said plate metal members and each having a bumper face, the first ofsaid bumper castings having an engaging face which is upright andextends transversely to the length of the car in a curved course in thebelowmentioned plane and a hook having a point and hinged to the sec-0nd of said castings on a horizontal transverse axis and adapted to turnon said axis to move said point in an are extending, when the firstcasting is not in range, from below the horizontal plane of said hingeupward in an are above said plane and above the height of said engagingfaces of the first coupling casting, whereby said point is adapted to ensaid face in said plane and slide laterally along said face duringchanges in alignment of the cars which support said coupling castings,substantially as described.

8. A railway car end structure comprising two end sill structures eachcomprising a plate metal end sill member formed to present an uprightback face and to present upper and lower horizontal flanges free fromeach other and extending from end to end of the plate metal member anddirected away from the car frame, a coupling casting combined with eachof said plate metal members and each having a bumper wall, the first ofsaid bumper castings having an engaging face which is upright andextends transversely to the length of the car in a curved course in thebelow-mentioned plane, a hook having a point and hinged to the second ofsaid castings on a horizontal axis and adapted to turn on said axis tomove said point in an are extending, when the first casting is not inrange, from below the horizontal plane of said hinge upward in an areabove said plane and above the height of said enltltl gaging faces ofthe first coupling casting, whereby said point is adapted to engage saidface in said plane and slide laterally along said face during changes inalignment of the cars which support said coupling casting, and woodfilling bearing against each of said bumper walls, substantially asdescribed.

9. In a railway-car, the combination with side sills, of a plate metalend sill member formed to present an upright back face and to presentupper and lower horizontal flanges free from each other and extendingfrom end to end of the plate metal member and away from the car frame, acoupling casting having a lower face extending approximately midwaybetween the upper and lower flanges of the plate metal member, and woodfilling between the coupling casting and the lower flange of the platemetal member and between the casting and the upright part of the platemetal member, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, this 5th day of June, in theyear one thousand nine hundred and twenty-four.

HUGH W. SANFORD.

